Kernel stepped off the stage, and was the only calm voice among the mess of voices flying around in this space.
“Where are the other magic dolls?”
“They are hidden by the curtain behind Ddos. We are observing them, because they attacked when we made contact.”
Behind the curtain decorating the stage, were the magic dolls meant to be displayed as merchandise afterwards.
The problem with fighting magic dolls was how good they were at coordinating with each other when they fought as a group. Their coordination was overwhelming because they could transmit information to each other through the network of their magic stones with zero delay, and flawlessly worked together.
Even the elite knights of Clearance would not leave unscathed if they thoughtlessly attacked.
“All right. Have half observe and analyze the magic dolls, and destroy them when you are ready. Have the others stand by and make sure no one jumps in and interferes with their fight… And watch for Ace’s skill, to destroy it if Qualia is defeated.”
Kernel gave Clearance orders, and took a cigar from his breast pocket.
The commander of Clearance lit it, and turned to Kernel with a somber expression.
“Does Qualia really think magic dolls have hearts?”
“Qualia does use unknown magic. Maybe he has some sort of alternative theories that we can’t see.”
Kernel said as he puffed out a ring of smoke in Qualia’s direction.
“And he reached the conclusion that magic dolls have hearts? But can he prove it?”
“No way. Well, maybe he can.”
“Gaia.”
A stream of green light was released from the magic stone, covering Ace like armor.
“Reverse.”
Immediately after, pointy ends and sections flew from the ground.
They protruded from the ground without any warning, but Qualia moved before they did, and evaded them.
After all, Qualia saw the world a second into the future.
“He dodged.”
“What are you doing Ace!? What kind of publicity is this…!?”
Ddos yelled with impatience, poking Ace’s back.
Meanwhile, the earth continued to move. Cones and pillars were pushed out, quickly turning the stage into a line of bamboo spears.
Qualia was robbed of his footing. There was no proper surface, and a pointy foundation awaited him if he took a wrong step.
Even if he tried to leave the stage, the wall put up in advance would stop him.
Not that ‘escape’ figured into his optimized solution.
“Type SWORD.”
Qualia created a silver handle, and rotated the beam as he swung it. He cut the many cones that popped up like a rice farm, and secured himself some space.
“…Adding attack methods.”
The Gaia skill was already active, as giant spears made of stone and iron hammers rushed Qualia.
Qualia looked up just as it all rained on him.
Loud noises echoed as if they were bursting, and a cloud of dust filled the air.
Everyone watching was sure Qualia was crushed inside that dust.
“Revising optimized solution. Small calculation error in predicted trajectory.”
But Qualia’s speed did not go down, as he ran out of the cloud of dust.
He dodged it all, and was unharmed.
“Switching to defense.”
A thick wall went up in front of Ace, which seemed to rush very fast at Qualia like a wave.
Qualia had to stop, but quickly swung his sword three times, and passed through the triangular hole he created.
“…Hey hey, is that magic doll all right?”
“No, isn’t that Qualia guy pretty strong…? I’ve never seen that kind of sword either…”
A disquieting mood started to fill the air, as the crowd looked on at the stage that had been turned into a sort of work of art. Ddos heard every voice that was beginning to doubt Ace, and the angry vein on his forehead started to become worse.
“Ace! Enough already! How come you can’t take down one human!?”
“I don’t understand Qualia.”
Ace reacted to neither the estimation from the crowd, or Ddos’ verbal abuse. Her thoughts were all on the question beginning to run inside her head.
“Why are you not using ‘type GUN’?”
Ddos frowned behind her, as he did not remember giving her permission to ask Qualia questions.
“You used ‘type GUN’ in the fight with Liebe. You could use it to pierce my skill, and deal damage to me.”
“That is not the optimal solution. That could damage you.”
“I don’t understand… Ah, error occurred in thought process, correcting.”
Qualia saw Ace trying to force herself to understand, and it reminded him of Shutdown forcing itself to understand what was a heart in the old world.
“Error corrected. Re-initiating attack.”
“You are wrong. That is not a bug, that is a question.”
Ace’s chest turned even brighter, and the Gaia skill permeated around her.
As expected, it pierced the earth, but this time, the earth did not change shape.
Instead, there were cracks, and a giant tree trunk crept out.
“Activating the deepest output of the Gaia skill, Domain Tree.”
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